


burning within a cell

by Skullszeyes



Category: Naruto
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Child Neglect, Childhood Memories, Childhood Trauma, Corruption, Dark Nine-Tails, Demonic Possession, Friendship, Hugs, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Minor Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto, Non-Graphic Violence, Not Beta Read, One Shot, POV Uchiha Sasuke, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Platonic Romance, Protective Uchiha Sasuke, Self-Harm, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto Friendship, mild romance, my head hurts..., not edited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 03:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29993466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skullszeyes/pseuds/Skullszeyes
Summary: Sasuke is curious why Naruto was taken away, and he goes and finds out.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	burning within a cell

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write a fic where Naruto somewhat becomes the Nine-Tails, but he's fifteen, and Sasuke wants to figure it out and learn some shit. And the village is corrupt, because that's...how it is. Friendship, mild romance, worry. :)
> 
> I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

It took awhile to find him. It wasn’t easy, and Sasuke made sure that he wasn’t detected when he eventually headed out on his own during the late night.

The memories he had of _him_ were shards within his mind, a flickering light here and there of a smiling boy with whisker-like marks on his cheeks. He was bright as the sun with a short temper, and ambition thrumming through his words and actions.

Sasuke couldn’t ignore what he had seen out in the street when the boy was thrown to the ground and no one bothered to touch him. He cried painfully, and the adults ignored his presence.

Even now, Sasuke gritted his teeth at what he recalled. The anger in his own small body had rushed into him, and he had sprinted toward the boy until _he_ was lifted from the ground by several people in masks. They took him away, and Sasuke wouldn’t see him until a week later.

The boy was quiet when he had shown up in class. He didn’t go back to his rambunctious nature until the afternoon when his friends coaxed out his smile.

Sasuke was too focused on what he had seen, and why he was taken, and what had happened in the first place.

When they were a bit older, it had happened again. The occurrence was odd, but Sasuke watched as Kakashi grabbed a hold of Sasuke’s arm, and told Sakura curtly not to go near Naruto.

He was writhing on the stone with tears running down his face. Sasuke could sense a different kind of chakra emanating from him. It was hot against his skin even though he stood a few feet away, and there seemed to be a wrath within it. An uncontrollable rage.

What Sasuke couldn’t forget was Naruto’s blue eyes flashing open, but they were no longer blue. They were a deep red with slits, and he let out a growl from his throat. Before he could move, ANBU had shown up and restrained Naruto, and then took him away.

Sakura kept asking about Naruto, and was trying her hardest to get those answers out of a stoic Kakashi who didn’t bother answering her questions. He told them to go home and they’ll continue their training in a few days.

Sasuke and Sakura were meant to accept it.

Sasuke couldn’t.

Not after what he had seen when he was younger, including now. The helplessness coursed in his body, making him agitated. He ignored Sakura’s voice, including the way Kakashi had stopped them and did nothing for Naruto.

Why was he in pain? Sasuke wanted to ask, but the question was lodged in his throat with a strong feeling of reaching out and holding onto Naruto. It was as if he was breaking apart and no one was bothering to hold him together.

The pain itself reminded Sasuke a lot of when he was numb. When he used to cry a lot on his own, and no one would help him.

This time around, Naruto was gone much longer than he should’ve, so Sasuke got the smart idea to look for him. Which he was currently doing. The ANBU must keep a close watch on him, including the Hokage. But if Naruto was releasing the strong chakra he had, then they must keep him somewhere else.

Sasuke knew he was smart enough to figure it out, but he was also afraid he might make a mistake. The ANBU were much stealthier than he was, and the Hokage must be aware of Naruto’s current condition.

It took almost a day or two to figure it out. He hunted down several ANBU, watched their movements, made sure he was far enough away so they wouldn’t sense an unusual presence like his own staying in one single spot, or even following them. He had to be as smart as they were.

He guessed where they were keeping Naruto, and it was incredibly secure. Sasuke had to be careful, if he wasn’t, he’d be reported and watched. He couldn’t have that happen, it was all or nothing.

“Damnit, all for curiosity,” said Sasuke.

He had to make sure the ANBU didn’t realize he was close, nor anyone else. One moment he was staying still, the next, he moved and raced toward a closing door which he had only managed to grasp a hold of before it closed and locked because of a slim kunai he had tossed in the air. It was lodged slightly in the wood, and he almost winced at the sound it made. However, he slipped through the door, and into a dim hallway.

Taking a cautious breath, he checked for anything that could set off an alarm, but as he walked toward a set of staircases. He had Sakura locate blueprints of abandoned jails. Sakura had a look in her eye when he asked and did as he said. She was a bit more skilled at securing these types of things than he was, and actually knew what she was looking for.

He thanked her and had hurried off.

The jail he had found was under one of the Hokage’s buildings where he has meetings. He wasn’t entirely sure, but nonetheless, Sasuke had a hunch that Naruto was here.

Why were they keeping him for this long?

The question gnawed at him. The way Naruto writhed on the ground, and the look on Kakashi’s face. He hadn’t been surprised, although calculating how long Naruto would remain like that was clear in his visible eye. Sasuke figured Kakashi would’ve done something if the ANBU hadn’t made it on time. What exactly that would be wasn’t really something he wanted to think about.

Sasuke descended the staircase and made his way toward the jail cells. There was a door in his way, but he managed to pick the lock. He almost swore at himself as the door opened if there would be an alarm. There wasn’t.

The jail cells were old, and there was a cold smell all around him. He didn’t even have to whisper Naruto’s name, he knew where he was, his chakra was a beacon in the dark.

Sasuke walked down a few aisles until he got to the end. There were a few seals on the old rusty bars placed on the single cell where Naruto was lying on the ground. He had a flame in his palm, and it seemed Naruto was sleeping, but his breath was labored, and there was sweat on his face.

His heart was racing painfully in his chest. He thought of when Naruto was a child and the people of the village, mostly the adults, hated Naruto. They didn’t even allow their children to play with him. The reason for this was confusing enough, mostly because Sasuke didn’t have parents to tell him to stay away from Naruto. The only reason he did was because...Naruto was a loser.

The day on the street, watching him crying, and no one bothering to hold him before he was taken, Sasuke hadn’t realized why they took him in the first place. He had thought that maybe because he was a child and that there wasn’t anyone to calm him down.

No. The reason for it was because Naruto was emitting the same kind of chakra he was doing right now.

Sasuke can feel it on his skin, even as he knelt so close to him beyond the bars. The chakra was almost hard to breathe against, a suffocation all around him, it even seemed to dim his own flame that was settled in his palm. He didn’t know what kind of chakra this was or why Naruto had it in the first place. But it seemed it was dangerous of some kind since the Hokage, including the ANBU had left him inside the cell.

“Naruto,” Sasuke breathed, curling his fingers around the bar with his free hand. “Naruto...wake up.”

He groaned softly, eyes squeezed, but he didn’t budge.

“Naruto,” Sasuke said, a little louder, “wake up.”

Naruto’s eyes flashed open, and Sasuke gasped at the sight of the same red colored eyes he had seen earlier that day. He groaned, which turned into a growl as he stared at Sasuke as if he didn’t recognize him.

“Hey,” Sasuke said, giving him a small smile. “Are you okay? Why did they put you in this—”

Naruto growled, then he shoved off the ground with a speed that was unusual for Naruto, and it shocked Sasuke who had fallen back, and the fire extinguished from his hand. Naruto slammed against the bars, growling like some kind of strange animal as he reached for Sasuke, but was then repelled back thanks to the seals.

He squirmed on the dirt as he moved against the wall. When Sasuke made another flame in his palm, he found Naruto’s head tilted back, his fingernails were longer than usual, but they were pressed to the ground as he stretched his abdomen.

“Naruto, look at me!” Sasuke said, unsure of what was happening.

“Ahhh!” Naruto’s mouth had fallen open, and then he slammed the back of his head against the stone, shocking Sasuke who wasn’t sure what to do.

“Stop, Naruto, I’m here to figure out what their doing to you, stop hitting yourself!” Sasuke said, then without really thinking about it, he tore off the seal that kept the door closed, and undid the lock, Naruto wasn’t paying attention once the cell was open and Sasuke was inside. “Stop!” Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto and pulled him tightly against his chest.

“Why…” Naruto’s voice was different. There was something strange about it, maybe a grinding sound, or the growling in his throat, or...just something different about him, as if he wasn’t really talking to Naruto at all. “Why are you here?”

Sasuke’s heart was pounding in his chest as he kept Naruto tightly in his embrace. “I wanted to make...sure you were okay, you idiot! Don’t make me regret it!”

Naruto groaned, stretching his body again, his long fingernails were digging into Sasuke’s arms, then instead of slamming his head back against the wall, Naruto shoved himself forward into Sasuke, toppling them both to the floor.

Sasuke gasped at the cold feeling all around him, including Naruto who was grinning above him.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” Naruto said. There were two different voices, Naruto’s...and someone else’s.

Sasuke panted, unsure of what to do or say. “I’m here, aren’t I? I’m here because of you, I didn’t want you...crying anymore.” Ah, the words escaped him painfully of the time when he stayed in his apartment after his family was killed, and the tears were hot on his cheeks. There was no escaping that pain where it began to dig complete emptiness into his chest.

“I’m not crying,” Naruto spoke sharply, but then his hand came down to the side of Sasuke’s face, and began petting him, “I would do so much worse to your little village, I would destroy it, doesn’t that sound nice?”

His eyes were still red and slitted, but his voice was different. And Sasuke wasn’t sure who he was talking to, or what it wanted. However, Sasuke did know that Naruto was a painful liar, and he hated coming all this way to regret the simplest truth.

“You’re crying right now, idiot!” Sasuke ignored the way he had yelled, his voice echoing all over the place inside the dark cell, and then he shoved himself up and almost toppled Naruto over. He ignored the growl leaving Naruto’s throat and wrapped his arms around him, cursing Naruto for making him do the stupidest things sometimes.

“I’m not...crying…” Naruto said after a few minutes of silence.

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not.”

He was crying. Sasuke can hear it in his voice, the whimpering and tears all stuck in his throat, unlike the growling he had heard a few minutes ago.

“I’m not crying,” Naruto said.

Sasuke rubbed his back, still wondering what he had witnessed about Naruto...and what the other chakra was. It was completely gone in a blink of an eye. Strange how it could fade like that.

They parted only slightly, and Sasuke placed his hand against Naruto’s cheek, then his heart raced in a heartwarming feeling when Naruto turned his head, a hand on Sasuke’s, and breathed him in, lips on his fingertips and along his palm.

“You’re crying,” Sasuke whispered.

Naruto opened his eyes and smiled, “You are too, idiot.”

Sasuke blinked, although not born from pain, but something else...maybe a shared kind that Sasuke wasn’t sure about, but he had made the decision to look for Naruto out of curiosity, and here he was, crying in some cell.

“Well, this is a strange turn of events, but I think it’s quite needed.”

Sasuke’s eyes were open, although he was surprised Naruto wasn’t all that bothered when they found themselves in the presence of the Hokage. He was situated down the hall, hands behind his back, with several ANBU all around him. Their presence was uncomfortable as Sasuke held onto Naruto as if to somehow protect him.

“Can I leave now?” Naruto asked.

Sasuke frowned at the nonchalance in his voice as they both stood up. He did notice old drawings of chalk on the wall that looked almost childish.

The Hokage sighed, giving a cold look at the both of them as they left the cell. “I do suggest next time, Sasuke, you don’t think you can get out of the eyes of the ANBU.”

Sasuke shivered. “You...let me come here?”

“I allowed it simply because of your friendship with Naruto, I figured someone with enough affection could help him come out of his...trance.”

_What...did that mean?_

Naruto ran a hand down Sasuke’s arm and intertwined their fingers. “Come on, let’s go eat ramen.”

“I’ll buy,” Sasuke said, distracted by what the Hokage said, including the cold eyes of the ANBU as they passed them. “Are you going to explain what happened?”

“I’ll tell you everything over ramen,” Naruto said joyfully as they bounded up the stairs.

Sasuke wasn’t entirely sure if anything could stop him from shaking in fear of what any of this meant, but he hoped Naruto could clarify. If anything, he would like to protect Naruto from whatever he experienced, of what was talking to him, and why the Hokage of the village was locking a fifteen year old away inside a cell.

This better be good, and without an inch of lies, the ramen should guarantee the truth at least.


End file.
